Captain Phillips - film review: Misadventure on the high seas

Paul Greengrass directs this adaptation of Captain Richard Phillips’s memoir, based on the capture of his ship by Somalian pirates, with Tom Hanks in the lead role

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Saturday 19 October 2013 10:21 BST

Americans abroad are taken hostage; US forces seek to deal with the crisis; a mission is accomplished. Sound familiar? The success of last year’s Argo suggests audiences enjoy real-life contretemps that involve ordinary people and experts working together. No wonder studio heads leapt at the chance to adapt Captain Richard Phillips’s memoir, based on the capture of his ship by Somalian pirates, for the screen.

As it happens, director Paul Greengrass is a far better director than Ben Affleck. From the minute family-guy Rich (Tom Hanks) steps on to his big, ugly cargo ship, Greengrass rubs us up the right way, drawing our attention to the rawest of colours and textures. Next, we’re thrown into Somalia, where a group of fishermen, led by Muse (newcomer Barkhad Abdi), vie for the chance to hijack the Maersk Alabama. These poor saps have done this kind of work before; they make millions for their bosses and now they must try to do so again.

The casting is perfect. Hanks’s face is all cosy curves, Abdi’s all precipitous peaks, yet both actors convey thoughtfulness (both deserve Oscar nominations). The drama, meanwhile, grips like a nature documentary — a tiny parasite seeks to get its hooks into a helpless host. Death is in the air, and it feels like just about anyone could go down.

The problems start once the captain, separated from his crew, joins the pirates in a lifeboat. Since we know Phillips survives the ordeal — and no longer has to worry about his men — we’re sure the worst is over. Suffice to say, rumours of the film’s ability to induce panic have been slightly exaggerated; I saw this at a screening where a woman in my row fell asleep (her snores were as thunderous as the music).

The dialogue doesn’t help. Phillips becomes parental towards his captors, so decent that he positively glows — Rich to Muse: “You’re not just a fisherman!”

Forget the fact that Phillips’s real-life crew claim the man they knew was neither wise nor heroic. It just doesn’t fit, stylistically, with what’s gone before. The first half of the film provides tough, spartan fare; the stuff on the lifeboat is American cheese.

A message for those riled (or rendered sleepy) by sentiment. Look out for an orange boat. When you clap eyes on that vessel, take command of the situation and set sail for the loo.